How to Draw Telltale Games Style
This thread is to appreciate the awesome graphics TT has in both they're major games right now, The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us. I love the animation and comic cel shaded outline look of it. But I have one question, how do you draw in this style? Or make 3D graphic models in this style? I would really like to know, each character seems unique and the art style is really cool. I've tried in the past to replicate this style, but I can never quite get it. But I have gotten pretty close. Remember the supposedly leaked image of Kenny that had the new art style? Yeah, that looked great and could've maybe past as a screenshot but if you looked hard enough, you could see it was enhanced with art software.
So TT employees, do you have any tips? 
Comments
I can send you some high-res pics of Clementine if it will help you get a feel for the small details in the art style.
I've noticed that some characters have thicker outlines in their models, like a comic, but others don't. Interesting.
Outlines also disappear when you are viewing them from a certain angle. Like with the head turned, the part of the head facing the camera will lose the outline. Not sure if that is intentional or a minor graphical error.
Also, here's something to study if you want to get better at "Telltale Impressionism". Not embedding because it is too large and mods would kill me.
http://i3.minus.com/ibyR6FnaRRytJp.bmp
Cool, I just think it'd be cool if someone at TT told us how the process is
Thanks, dude.
I have the black outlines and small outline in black down. I can do that. One thing I have trouble with though is the shading. Take that picture if Clem for example, the cel shading looks reallly cool, I just don't know how to replicate it. I hack another question... Do you draw in TT style? you seem to know a lot
See, this something that intrigues me. How did this person manage to put michone in the style of the game. How did they make it look straight from the game? I'd like a few tips from this person.
For shading, Telltale seems to just darken the areas of skin that would normally receive shadows. Like, the spot under her nose where there would naturally be a shadow in light is just colored darker. Pretty much her entire forehead is darker to account for the shadows that would be cast by the brim of her hat. The center of her face is by far the lightest, probably to draw attention to the area. The eyes are, of course, overly large and very bright to increase perception of her cuteness. Also, before shifting from light to dark skin tone, Telltale likes to simulate "banding artifacts" on her skin, note how there seem to be visible lines on parts of the center of her face. Contrast is exaggerated for a stylistic look.
TLDR; Telltale uses darker shading to account for the engine's inability to cast small, detailed shadows.
It looks pretty believable at first glance, but the "detail lines" on her face are a bit too uniform and something feels off about the eyes (shape? too large?). Also, the face seems too rounded to have come from Telltale's engine, which doesn't make use of tessellation or high-poly models. Simulated shadowing is more subtle and seems to have a bit of a bruise-like appearance.
Other than that, her clothes and the background don't have any detail and the entire picture has a canvas effect applied. The canvas effect kind of ruins the mood for me.
Thanks, helps a lot
Yes, you're right. But it'd be interesting to see how they made it none the less
I've no idea how one makes a digital image or a 3d model of someone but if you want to try a more traditional pen and paper style then I suggest you check out markcrilley on youtube. 90% of his stuff is manga but it can't be all that different when it comes to shading and the outlines. He goes really in depth and is a genuinely interesting guy to listen to.
Thanks! Helps a lot bro!
Telltale needs a new engine.
Whoever it was...he/she is DAMN good at this thing
You, wish I knew how to do it
You just have to practice. Of course it will be horrible at first, you have probably never attempted anything like the Telltale style. Eventually, you will end up with something that vaguely resembles a Telltale character:P
Of course I'm sorry for bad english, but I will say this:
I know the author of this "masterpiece" - he is from Ukraine, and it can be found in the social network Vkontakte, here's a link to it, ask how he does it: Click
To me it looks like they have a specific texture for the outlines to simulate thickness of the outer line. When characters turn some dark outlines (the cel shading) vanish so it seems like it's not "real" cel shading in a way. It's clearly seen on the boy in the attic where his body lines seem to be off from the location of his actual body. It would be a good way to simulate it while creating a unique style. Taken further swapping it out would allow for variance in thickness which is seen in drawings to show distance to camera while not needing much to change things. It's also seen on places like Lee or Kenny's nose, when the characters turn cel shading would create a border line which if I remember right is not present, at least not as thick as the other lines we see so it highlights the already present line on the nose which give's the viewer the sense of where the bridge is and what the structure of the bridge is. When the character turns the other direction that same bridge line becomes more apparent adding to the specific style (it's probably non intentional by TT).
Raidon has a point about the shading. It looks like it's drawn with partial shadowing already part of the 3D model which then becomes amplified when the lighting from the scene interacts with the character. This would give that comic book drawn feel while cutting down drastically on lights in any scene making it more portable to platforms that aren't as graphically impressive while keeping quality the same.
I would like to draw in the TT style too, but I don't know where to start...
I've tried to draw some charachters from Tales From The Borderlands but it came out not in TT style.
How can I draw in this style?
P.S. sorry for my english mistake...
Way to necro bump a thread from years ago.
Lol I didnt even notice untill this comment XD some good tips here anyway
Can I ask you a few questions?
Is this draw kinda in TT style?
What can I improve?
Tell me what do you think!!
P.S. Sorry, again for my english mistakes...
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